Project Setup Skill

Interactive onboarding flow for new projects created from the ai-project-start template. This skill guides users through configuring their project with the right tech stack and skills.

Trigger Condition

This skill should trigger automatically when:

•project.mdc contains the placeholder [Project Name]

Or when the user explicitly asks to set up their project.

Phase 1: Detection & Welcome

Check for New Project

Read .cursor/rules/project.mdc and check for placeholder text:

code

[Project Name]
[One-line description of the project]
[e.g., Next.js 14 App Router, TypeScript, Tailwind, shadcn/ui]

If placeholders exist, proceed with setup. If project appears configured, ask:

"Your project.mdc appears to be configured. Would you like to reconfigure it, or is there something specific I can help with?"

Welcome Message

code

👋 Welcome to your new project!

Let's get you set up. I'll ask a few questions about what you're building,
then recommend skills to import and configure your project.mdc file.

This takes about 2 minutes.

Phase 2: Gather Project Info

Ask Questions

Ask these questions one at a time or use the AskQuestion tool:

1. Project Name

What's the name of your project?

2. Description

In one sentence, what are you building?

3. Project Type

What type of project is this?

•Web App (Next.js)
•API Only (NestJS)
•Full Stack (Next.js + NestJS)
•CLI Tool
•Other

4. Database

What database are you using?

•PostgreSQL (Drizzle ORM)
•PostgreSQL (Prisma ORM)
•SQLite
•None / External API only

5. Authentication

How will you handle auth?

•Better Auth
•NextAuth
•External auth service
•None needed yet

6. Deployment

Where will you deploy?

•Railway
•Vercel
•AWS
•Docker / Self-hosted
•Not decided yet

7. State Management (if Web App or Full Stack)

How will you manage frontend state?

•Tanstack Query + Effector
•Zustand
•React state only

8. Task Tracking

Do you use Linear for task tracking?

•Yes
•No / Other

Phase 3: Recommend Skills

Based on answers, recommend skills from the cursor-skills repo.

Skill Recommendation Matrix

Tech Choice	Recommended Skills
Next.js	`nextjs-16`
PostgreSQL + Drizzle	`db-postgres`
PostgreSQL + Prisma	`db-prisma`
Better Auth	`auth-better-auth`
Railway	`infra-railway`
Docker	`docker-local`
REST API	`api-rest`
Tanstack Query + Effector	`effector`, `state-management`
Linear tasks	`linear`
Any project	`feature-build`, `documentation`, `versioning`

Present Recommendations

markdown

## Recommended Skills

Based on your stack, I recommend importing these skills:

**Core (always useful):**
- `feature-build` - Complete feature development lifecycle
- `documentation` - Project documentation standards
- `versioning` - Semantic versioning with CHANGELOG

**For your stack:**
- `nextjs-16` - Next.js 16 patterns and conventions
- `db-postgres` - PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM
- `effector` - Effector state management
- `linear` - Linear issue tracking

### How to Import Skills

1. Open Cursor Settings (Cmd+Shift+J)
2. Go to the **Rules** tab
3. Click **Add Rule** → **Remote Rule (GitHub)**
4. Enter: `https://github.com/aussiegingersnap/cursor-skills`
5. Select the skills you want to import

The skills will be added to your `.cursor/skills/` directory.

Phase 4: Update project.mdc

Generate Updated Content

Replace placeholders with gathered info:

markdown

---
alwaysApply: true
---

# {Project Name}

NEVER EDIT MY ENV FILES FOR ME, ALWAYS GIVE ME DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS WITH EXAMPLES TO COPY ON WHAT TO EDIT

## What We're Building

{Description}

## Tech Stack

- **Frontend**: {Frontend stack}
- **Backend**: {Backend stack if applicable}
- **Database**: {Database choice}
- **Auth**: {Auth choice}
- **State**: {State management}
- **Deploy**: {Deployment target}
- **Skills**: Cursor native skills

## Core Constraints

- **KISS**: Simplest solution that works
- **DRY**: Don't repeat—types in code, schema in migrations, patterns in docs
- {Any project-specific constraints}

## Documentation

| Doc | Purpose |
|-----|---------|
| [TASKS.md](../TASKS.md) | Current sprint + backlog |
| [CHANGELOG.md](../CHANGELOG.md) | Progress updates |
| [docs/architecture.md](../docs/architecture.md) | Technical patterns + decisions |

## Git Standards

**Conventional Commits**: `<type>(<scope>): <subject>`

Types: `feat`, `fix`, `docs`, `style`, `refactor`, `perf`, `test`, `chore`, `ci`, `build`, `revert`

```bash
feat: add user authentication
fix(api): handle null response
docs: update architecture patterns

Security:

•❌ Never commit .env files or secrets
•✅ Secrets in .env.local (gitignored)
•✅ NEXT_PUBLIC_ prefix for client-safe vars

Environment

See .env.example for required variables.

Workflow

When a Cursor plan is complete, provide a summary block for manual git commits:

code

### Done

**Summary**: [Brief description of changes]

**Commits** (ohmyzsh):
gaa && gcmsg "feat(scope): description"
gcmsg "fix(scope): description"
gp

User will copy/paste these commands. Lefthook validates commit format and blocks secrets.

code


### Confirm Before Writing

> I'll update your project.mdc with this configuration. Here's a preview:
> 
> [Show key fields]
>
> Does this look correct? (y/n)

---

## Phase 5: Finalize Setup

### Update Files

1. **Update project.mdc** with gathered configuration
2. **Update TASKS.md** with initial sprint items based on project type
3. **Update README.md** with project name and description

### Completion Message

```markdown
## Setup Complete! 🎉

Your project is configured with:
- **Project**: {Name}
- **Stack**: {Summary}
- **Skills**: {Count} recommended (import via Cursor Settings)

### Next Steps

1. Import recommended skills via Cursor Settings (Cmd+Shift+J → Rules)
2. Configure your `.env.local` based on `.env.example`
3. Start building! Use `/feature-build` to work on tasks

### Quick Commands

```bash
# Start dev server
npm run dev

# Git workflow (ohmyzsh)
gaa && gcmsg "feat(scope): description"
gp

Happy building!

code


---

## Error Handling

### If User Skips Questions

Use sensible defaults:
- Project Type: Web App
- Database: None (can add later)
- Auth: None (can add later)
- Deploy: Not decided
- State: React state only

### If Import Fails

Provide manual import instructions:
```bash
# Clone cursor-skills and copy desired skills
git clone https://github.com/aussiegingersnap/cursor-skills /tmp/cursor-skills
cp -r /tmp/cursor-skills/skills/{skill-name} .cursor/skills/

Quick Reference

Minimal Setup Flow

For users who want fast setup:

•"What's your project name and one-line description?"
•"Web app, API, or full stack?"
•Generate config with defaults
•List recommended skills
•Done

Full Setup Flow

For users who want complete configuration:

•All 8 questions
•Detailed skill recommendations with explanations
•Preview and confirm project.mdc
•Update all project files
•Detailed next steps